


Wicked

by redberries



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Abuse, Dubious Morality, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, Graphic Description, M/M, Masturbation, Pervert Eren Yeager, Porn With Plot, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-04-08 17:13:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14110164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redberries/pseuds/redberries
Summary: Eren witnesses something that will mark him for life. Since that time, he had not been able to take this strange and mysterious man off his mind. It haunts him and it stirs up inside him a perversion he never thought he could be capable of. How is it possible to keep his sanity when he wants him so much, wants to touch him, to kiss him, to put back together all the pieces of that broken man?The story of two totally twisted men...(filled with juicy descriptions)





	1. Carved

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins...

“Eren!” She pulled her son by the hand and scolded him. “How many times have I told you to not run on the streets…” Her hand gently caressed her son’s flustered cheek. There was also some dirt on it that didn’t seem to want to be wiped off. “...or play catch on the roads.” Her son was looking back at her with green doe eyes. There was a scowl on his face as he tried to avoid the embarrassment of being cleaned in public. He looked anxiously at the other side of the road where his friends were waiting for him. They were looking over in his direction. “Mom…” The tips of Eren’s ears were turning red as he pleaded her. “Not now. We were just playing.” He looked up at her with eyes full of purposeful hope. “May I go back to them?” He knew he was pouting, but desperate times needed desperate measures. “Pretty please!”

 

Damn him! He was such a manipulative little sweetheart. ”Alright. Alright” She stood up, went for the sandwiches in her bag and then passed them to him. “But you’ve got to promise me that you would be back before dark. Got it, hubby?”. His eyes instantly lit up and his face harboured the biggest of grins. “Got it.” Eren’s mother sighed. In spite of all his eagerness, her son didn’t really strike her as reliable. She had her own doubts and not for no reason. “Eren, I really mean it. Don’t make me wait for you.”

 

Eren raised his hand in a mockery of a soldiers salute. His back was straight and his demeanour serious as his legs swiftly crushed into one another. “Yes, ma’am! I will do as you say!” Now his hand was at the side of his heart, wrapped up in a fist and pressed tightly on his own small chest. It was a matter of honour to him now. A matter of life and death, as his hand which rested close to his heart would suggest. “If not, I would be a bad, bad child! And I am not like that.” Obviously pleased with his own speech, Eren was in good spirits.

 

Mikasa and Armin were still waiting for him on the other side of the road. He hurriedly kissed his mother goodbye on the cheek, threw those sandwiches in his own backpack and rushed over to them. He was in one hell of a hurry to have the fun of his life. He could hear his mother calling him, probably alarmed that it didn’t seem like he had taken enough care when he had crossed the street. He turned on his heel and waved frantically her.

 

Eren was extremely happy that he could finally play with his friends. Its been some time since they went all three together on a new adventure. And he had been itching so badly to get his hands on those new types of snails. Maybe he would even find one of those huge ones that father told him about. Strangely enough, Eren really liked bugs and all types of different small creatures. He liked taking photos of them and later making drawings after those that came out best. It was his own small passion and lately he seemed to be getting better and better at it.

 

Ever since his mother,who was a painter, had first taught him how to try to sketch something out, Eren had been infatuated. It was the only thing that succeeded in making such an agitated kid as himself stay still and concentrate on something. Everything else mostly failed. He had always been way to playful and distracted when he had tried to keep focus.

 

“Should we try searching for them at the edge of the forest near Mikasa's house” suggested Armin in a meek voice. Eren was really grateful to him that he had agreed to come along. He knew that going in damp and dark places was not Armin’s forte, so he appreciated his friend’s effort. “Sure!” He answered him with a big grin, one that got a glimpse at all his pearly little teeth.

 

“Do you think we could play something else after that?” Mikasa was fumbling with a stick underneath a big rock, searching for any living creatures. There were some that had just sprung out, disturbed by the bustle. Small and black and slimy. A cold shiver crossed Mikasa’s back at the sight of them. She was already creeped out.

 

Suddenly, Eren’s enthusiasm dropped by a rate. Maybe his idea hadn’t been as good as he had thought. “Sure! We can go fast and see if we find any, and if not, we’ll do something else.”

 

At hearing that, Mikasa’s spirits rose back up. “Maybe we can go to my house and play by the pool after that!”

 

“Sounds good!”

 

* * *

 

 

And there they were, sitting on sunbeds and tasting the sweet part of life while Mrs. Kioko brought them flavored lemonade. Life just couldn’t get any better! To illustrate how sweet he felt, Eren was slurping loudly from his glass while looking over at Mikasa and at Armin. Mikasa was making real efforts to try to teach Armin how to swim. At first Eren had tried to help. But then, in a moment of sheer fright, Armin had sunken him and he wouldn’t release Eren’s drowned head out of his desperate grip. And that was all it took for the green eyed boy to begin taking his life more seriously. Thus, he had decided to sit on the sidelines for the moment.

 

“Thank you once again, Mrs. Kioko!” Eren was practicing the politeness that his mother had tried for such a long time to instill in him. He guessed it was working out pretty well. “You’re welcome, Eren!” The older woman returned those words along one of her compassionate smiles. Eren thought that she was the gentle type of mom, one of those who did never seem to raise their voices, no matter what foolishness their children did. He glanced at her underneath slit eyes. She was very pretty too. He sometimes wished that his mother was as calm as this. She was way too strict with him for too many stupid things.

 

“Mikasa, dear, have you seen Levi?” A somewhat concerned look rested on Kioko’s face. The named girl lifted up her gaze from underneath the water. “No, I don’t know where he is.” The tone in her voice implied that she had absolutely no idea where this Levi person was.

 

“I see.” Kioko couldn’t help feeling a little concerned. She took the empty tray from the table and turned her body toward the house in a gesture of leaving. “If you see him, would you please tell him to come have dinner with us when it is ready?” Mikasa shrugged. “Sure”

 

“Alright then! Have fun, you guys!” and she left to start making the food. She had to go to the store first so she shouldn’t waste any more time.

 

“Who is Levi?” asked Armin before Eren could even begin to put it into words.

 

The dark eyed girl seemed to stop and think about it for a second. “A distant relative. He is staying with us for a short period of time.”

 

“Really?” Armin seemed really surprised at the news. “And how is he?”

 

“Umm…” Mikasa looked a little trouble as she considered her reply. “He is a little weird.”

 

That caught the boys’ attention. “How so?”

 

This time, Mikasa was fast to reply. “He almost never talks. And he doesn’t seem to like to be around people.” Hearing that coming out of Mikasa, who was not a very talkative girl herself must have truly meant that this Levi guy wasn’t keen at all on small talk.

 

“Why is he staying with you? Is he visiting or something?” Armin’s curiosity got the best of him.

 

“I think that something might have happened to his parents.” Mikasa voice saddened as she remembered her father’s words. _Levi’s family is no longer there for him. So he would be staying with us for a while, ‘kasa._ Her cheeks puffed as she felt hurt that her father didn’t trust her enough to tell her more bluntly things like that. She was old enough by now for that kind of stuff!

 

Ceasing their activities, both boys turned to her. Eren felt a sudden pang stinging his heart. “Are they dead?” he asked in a very cautious voice.

 

The girl realised that her father had really gave her very little info on who Levi really was. And even though he had been staying with them for almost two weeks now, she knew close to nothing about him. “I guess so… I don’t really know.”

 

Trying to wash the uncomfortable atmosphere away, Eren looked at the pictures he’d taken. They didn’t come out that good this time…  Was it the light? It was true that in that forest it was a little too dusky for his camera. Maybe he should have taken those snails out and photographed them out here. It's just … He did not really like to take any living thing out of its surroundings. Eren felt his cheeks get flushed. It was silly, of course. What was he thinking of again? So foolish...

 

Sometimes, the young boy couldn’t help wondering if there was something wrong with his vision of the world. He often found himself questioning things that no one else did and at times he noticed things that apparently hold no meaning for anybody else. Feeling somewhat annoyed, Eren put the camera aside. Maybe all this looking at bugs and stuff was doing funny things to his head. Maybe he should try to do something else.

 

“So…” Eren took the initiative. “What are we going to do now?” He looked at his partners in crime, searching for the answer in their eyes.

 

Armin was the first one to come up with a suggestion. “Do… do you want to play hide-and-seek?” Seemed suitable! A simple, yet beautiful idea!

 

“Let’s do it!”

 

* * *

 

 

Eren was running out of breath. He had to be fast and find a proper hideout before the countdown was finished. They were free to roam wherever they wanted as long as it was Mikasa’s property. It had been their choice to play by those rules so that it would spice up the game a little, all this room in which you could get lost into. He vaguely remembered that Mr. Akerman had an old workshop somewhere around his backyard and he thought it would make a much better and less obvious hideout that any other. He knew for instance that Mikasa avoided coming here since Mr. Akerman instructed her not to. Probably because he was afraid she might have hurt herself with all the tools in there.

 

There it was! Eren’s eyes went wide with delight. It looked a little rusty, but he was sure that it would make the best hiding-place! The boy reached the structure and stealthily walked across the ledge with cat-like steps going for the furthest part of it from the house. He didn’t want to get inside the workshop. From inside he couldn’t have seen as well what was going on outside and his escape route would have been compromised too. He just had to hide behind it and wait patiently for the right time to strike. Nothing easier than that!

 

Eren seated himself comfortably and started implementing his plan… for the next thirty minutes. The only thing he did not see coming was that nothing could be seen from the direction where Armin and Mikasa were supposed to be. Did he exaggerate and went too far away from the usual hiding places?

 

Eren’s blood froze in his veins. A noise of some sort had startled him. Eren sharpened his hearing and waited in a strained concentration for another sound to happen. His heartbeat was jumping right out of his chest. Again! The boy’s petrified glare fixed itself on the dirty window next to his right. Now that he was so alert he could clearly make out a bunch of soft sounds coming from inside the workshop. A twinge of fear all meddled up with surprise stung him as realisation settled in. There had been someone inside all along.

 

Was it Mr. Ackerman? No. It couldn’t have been him. Mr. Akerman always came out very late from his work. Then who? His curiosity got the best of him and in spite of his anxiety, Eren slowly headed for the window in question. He warily peeked above the edge leaning his small fingers against the cold surface of it. Because of the dirt on the glass, he could see close to nothing inside.

 

Should he just leave it at that and go back to the house? Hmm… No, it was not something befitting him. Eren raised his thumb and wiped a small circle on the bottom of the glass leaving just enough room for one eye to gaze thru. Damn! He was probably going to regret this! His deep forest green eye peaked inside. It took a few seconds till he accommodated to the poor inner light so at first he couldn’t make out anything.

 

Then he saw him. There was someone he did not know sitting at the carpentry table and working on some piece of wood. He looked completely focused as he was carving out that wood with a hand gouge and his movements were precise, but slow. Was he e child? He didn’t seem very big. Eren tried to grasp his features. No, definitely not! Thought he probably wasn’t older than eighteen, Eren felt an unidentifiable emotion claw at him as he found the stranger’s eyes. They alone looked… old.

 

His hair was black and undercut and his bangs, longer than the rest of his hair, got in his eyes. Even thought it was pretty hard to properly tell as the stranger was sitting, his frame seemed to be small and his silhouette rather bony. There was an apparent expression of total boredom harbored on his face, but Eren felt there was probably something gnawing at this person. There was a nervous pattern to the movements of his hands that had caught his eye. Like he was impatient or something.

 

Eren tried to focus on the object he kept carving. He had not been able to make it out until the man turned it to stand on its length. Then realisation hit him like a hammer in the head. What on Earth was that? His young gaze widened and his face furiously flushed as his mind grasped the meaning of that object. Why would he make out such an object? For what use? The little boy was completely confused. Great! He was just grossed out now!

 

Between the pale hands of that mysterious stranger stood a wooden carved dick. And a very faithful reproduction at that! Eren could see the detailed top of what he imagined to be a mature erect dick. Not that he would know. It had a mushroom like shape and its margins were very well defined making the top have a bigger diameter than the rest of it. Even the folds of the skin under were faithfully graved on the hard surface. It seemed to be an oversized version of a penis as Eren could not imagine any real one being that huge and thick. Or maybe it just seemed like that to him because he had never seen a real one? Was it possible for it to be that big?

 

The green eyed boy gulped as he thought how weird his thoughts and this sight was. But what set his blood the most in a frenzy was the realness of that thing, the details which made it seem almost alive. It had strong veins which were going all around its length coupled with lots of tinier ones pushing thru what was beginning to look like skin. Eren could almost feel the blood pulsing thru it.

 

Without giving a single sign of warning, this phantom of a man suddenly stopped the repetitive movements of his hands and threw the gouge on the other side of the table. It hit another metal tool in its fall and the sharp shriek made by metal on metal sent a cold chill down Eren’s spine. And then nothing, a total ceasing of movement. Wrapped up in some kind of agitated tiredness, the stranger looked like he was considering what to do next.

 

Was this person what they called a pervert? Eren glanced once more at the stranger’s face. He looked like any normal person did. The greenhorn took in his ferm features, some of them more delicate than he had first appreciated, and he couldn’t help thinking that he would had never guessed if not for this scene. At first glance, this unknown teenager really didn't look the part. There was… this seriousness about him that would have threw him off.

 

And in spite of that, with every passing second in which he had been staring at that wooden dick, this man’s gaze was getting more and more unnatural, almost hazy. Finally, he stood up. He was scanning the room for something now. What he turned his way, Eren felt shrill firsthand terror at the thought of being seen. His sharp instincts kicked in and in a split second he was on all fours crawled away from the edge of the window. That had been so close!

 

Eren’s heart threaten to rip his chest apart. When he finally got his breath in check, he returned to glance thru that small peephole. The older boy was back at the table, his hand swiftly going up and down that lengthy wooden penis. Next to him laid a small box filled with some kind of cream. He must had been scrubbing that wooden sculpture with this slimy substance because it now had a shiny texture.

 

He was rubbing it thoroughly and Eren didn’t understand why he was putting in so much pressure. It was not like the cream had to be pressed on the wood for it to have the desired effect, whatever that was. But then, a sudden discovery struck Eren when he glanced at the boy’s face. It was all flustered. His nostrils were flared and there was a needy frown tormenting his features as all that bottled impatience was spilling over. It pleasured him! That friction...

 

What followed next surpassed everything Eren could have ever imagined. He took that thing in his mouth, sucking at it like it was a limited edition of some sort of premium lollipop. He was licking the top of it with fast, desperate movements, his saliva sliding down on it and blending with that creamy substance. His sharp tongue was precise and rosy coloured and it slithered with ease over the length of it all, going expertly from right underneath the mushroom like cape to the bottom of it. When he seemed to get tired of that, so much that his lips were beginning to swell, he became more violent.

 

He began thrusting that large thing deep down his small throat, his gaze clouded with pleasure as he did so. Eren was dumbstruck! Damn, it must have really hurt him, pushing that hard object down his neck! With each and every thrust, a low guttural moan escaped him. It was the only thing that ripped thru this overwhelming silence beside all the wet sounds and the green eyed boy’s frantic heartbeat. How could he possibly not choke on that? And why would a man ever want to suck something that resembled a dick?

 

Eren stood there petrified. Strangely thrilled, shocked and disgusted, still, in part... excited. And all at the same time. He couldn’t take his eyes of him. The image of it stirred up a warmness deep down in his own little thing. It was beginning to twitch and rebel against him.

 

“Ah! Fuck!” Eren jerked visibly. Those had been the first words he heard this man utter and the frank reality of human words shattered the spell that was beginning to wrap around his stunned mind. There was an unexpected velvety stroke to his voice. “Fuck! Fuck!” His voice was strained and, letting out a low hiss, the stranger snapped his hand in his pants. Somewhat uncomfortable and restrained because of all the fabric, he pushed his rear up front to let his pants slide a little, letting out in full view his rock hard dick.

 

Eren had a perfect view to his member and his childish gaze widened as he took in that image. The older boy had really, really pale skin making him look almost sick. Only his manhood had been reddened with all the blood rushing thru it, making his veins stand out, swallowed and purple. He grabbed it furiously and started jerking it off with hasty movements, digging his thumb nail in the little piss slit.

 

Eren averted his gaze. He could feel the tips of his bangs sticking to his wet with sweat forehead nagging him with their coldness. He couldn’t even say what he was feeling anymore. There was no way he could stay and watch any longer. And still, for God knew what reason, there seemed to be something gluing him to this stranger like none other. What on Earth was it?

 

The boy’s lost gaze glanced for the last time at his instigator. His face was deeply flustered and every pore in his body seemed to had been yilding to sheer pleasure. He came and while he did so, his head tilt to the back, his mouth closed. He slowly opened his eyes as he seemed to regain his senses. This twisted man looked so serene right now. And still… what was it? What was it that kept prowling the back of Eren’s head, a thought so hard to figure out and put into words… Why was something… lonesome about all this scene?

 

Leaning there, overspent and seemingly emotionless, he looked dark and strangely beautiful. He raised his dirty with cum fingers to his closed mouth and then he gently swiped them along his lips, sighing as he did so, looking resigned and seeming to take in the feel of it. When he finished with that, he swiftly took his pants down, leaving his legs bare. They were pretty skinny, but there could be seen muscles flexing with his every move. There was a feline particularity to his body, to the way his lean members seemed to neatly carry themselves.

 

Almost exasperated, he grabbed the small box with cream and took a swipe of its contents. Then, bending over the table and raising one knee over the edge of it, he drove those fingers to his asshole. What… Eren’s heartbeat froze in his chest as the teenager started to thrust two slimy fingers inside himself, using the other hand to gape the entrance to his ass. He kept going at it until his fingers seemed to be able to go completely in.

 

The pale and exhausted young man grabbed once again that ferocious wooden sculpture. Placing it in front of his entrance and jolting at the cold touch as he did so, he inserted that mushroom like cape inside of him, spreading himself wide open. A cry of pain escaped the man. It had been low and throaty and it resembled nothing Eren had ever heard before. As absurd as it sounded, it was an uncanny combination of pain perfectly blended in with raw pleasure.

 

He went further and further in with it until half of it could not be seen anymore. All his muscles clenched and his body jerked spasmodically along with his now again erect dick.

 

“Yes! Fuck me! Oh, God, fuck me!” He was thrusting it in and out without too much consideration. To try to keep inside all the loud moans, he bit his hand, his teeth digging deep into his flesh.

 

Too caught up in the events that were rolling before him, Eren didn’t realise that his hand had been grasping a little too hard the edge of the window. Without proper warning, his hand slipped and his forehead hit the window glass with a low thud. Eren could see the young man jolt and look his way right before he flung himself down. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Exasperated tears were forming in the corners of the emerald eyed boy. What was he going to do!? What if he got caught?! No! He had to hide! He had to hide now!

 

Eren started running as fast as he could to the forest which stamped the end of the Ackerman property. It was only a stone’s throw till he reached it. He had to somehow make it in time.

 

* * *

 

 

“Eren!” Carla was downright surprised. She knew she had told her son to not come after the sun had set, but she hadn’t really expected him to keep his word. It was a really pleasant surprise. “You really came back before dark! I’m very proud of you, pumpkin pie!”

 

“Eren? Is there something wrong?” She only now noticed that Eren’s body was completely still and that his face looked like it had been drained of all blood. A dark shadow covered his eyes. He stuttered incomprehensibly, stumbling on each word.

 

“I...n-no… I… don’t know…”


	2. Punishing the sinners: Part 1

 

 

There was a somewhat foul atmosphere in the air. Outside was a cloudy cold autumn day filled with blueish green and leaf orange colors. The people and the cars seemed to move on replay and felt distant from the other side of the window glass. Eren couldn’t help feeling a little mopish as he turned his gaze away from that view. Truthfully, he felt bored for some time now. For some reason he couldn't concentrate on doing any of the things which normally interested him. It seemed that nothing was going his way lately. Nor his drawing skills, nor his studies. The boy was looking lost in space at something that even he did not understand.

 

There was something that irked him. But he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

 

“Eren…” his mother could be heard calling from downstairs. “Eren! Come down to eat!” The table was full with all kinds of warm food. Eren never met a better cook than his mother. She was simply the best. It was one of the things he was truly grateful for. Even now he could remember how other kids at school looked with envy at his school package with food. Before moving to this new school, he used to go to a poorer one, one where kids used to notice immediately if you had something unusual or if you were with anything above them. It was not that his parents were rich. But in comparison with most of the kids who went to that run down place, he had been someone they had projected their envy on. That was why he picked up the bad habit of eating alone. In fact, that was how his new friends found him. Eating all alone in a hidden corner of the school park. For some reason, after that, they took a strange interest in him.

 

“What on earth have you been doing? I’ve been calling you for some time now!” A look of confusion rested on Carla’s face as she took in the expression of her son. He seemed absent minded and concentrated on thinking about something far away, like he was solving some kind of extremely complicated puzzle in his mind. A soft warm smile curled her lips while looking at him. She pulled his plate in front of him. “Now, sir, you don’t have to be so serious looking. The only thing you have to do is eat, nothing more.” She looked him in the eye. “What do you think?” She reached his forehead and pushed away his frown with the tips of her fingers. “Do you think you can do that with a more cheerful appearance?”

 

Eren burst out into laughter. “Yeah, I think I could!” He took a seat and curiously looked around. “Father is not coming?”

 

“Your father is out visiting Earl and Kioko. He should come any time now. Still, he said that if he doesn’t come by now, we should go on and eat without him. He had something to talk about with Mr. Earl.” Mikasa’s parents. His family seemed to be getting along pretty well with them. They would often go to picnics together or on other activities which always involved him and Mikasa. They seemed really friendly and were very welcoming with them when they moved in the neighborhood. Still, when he heard the name of Mikasa’s father, he felt a cold chill run up his spine and a short flash of something that happened some time ago on their property creeped in his mind. It had been a few days since then and the memory of it almost left his mind, mostly induced by his own willpower. He didn’t really want to think about what that was or what it meant. So he let it fade away. He avoided going to Mikasa ever since. At school, he avoided discussions about her new tenant.

He somehow picked it up that the boy who was living with them for a while must have been the one he saw. But he was not one bit interested in that kind of thing.

 

A knock could be heard at the door. “I wonder who it could be.” Carla went to open the door. She had no visitors to expect today and her husband would have just walked in without knocking. Eren was beginning to wonder if maybe playing with Photoshop on his not so great photos would make them look a little more alive. He picked up his camera which he always carried around with him and began looking thru the gallery.

 

* * *

  
  


Earl was leaning against the entrance to the kitchen, standing there with his all knowing smile and staring down upon the small boy with his friendly gaze. His grey worn-out coat was dripping on the floor and he was shaking his head like some kind of animal to make the wetness in his hair go away.

 

“What are you doing, kid?” He stepped inside and with all his care he still made a bit of a puddle while he entered. Only now, Eren realized that there was someone else in the kitchen beside him. When he realized who it was, an extremely happy smile beamed on his face. “Earl!” Eren went on to greet his guest. “What are you doing here?” He really liked Earl. There was something nice about his demeanor. Something genuine, like he was the kind of person who did not try to look like something he was not. And he was very frank most of the time.

 

“Now, that’s the kind of greeting I look forward to, you small one.” Earl was ruffling his hair. It was a habit of his and it made him feel like he was truly close to the older man. His father was the next one to enter. “I thought I should invite them over. Kioko has gone to her parents and I’ve been told” Jeager glanced in the direction of Earl and winked at him “that a certain little miss has been feeling kinda lonely.” Mikasa, which was hiding beside her father’s coat started blushing. “That’s not true!” She pouted in denial.

 

“Ok, darling! Now, go and greet Eren!” Earl pushed Mikasa forward and encouraged her to go to her friend. Eren was extremely happy to see her. It had been a weird day and any unannounced visit was welcomed as long as it would drive his boredom away. Earl looked at the children and smiled seeing how enthusiastic they were. It had been a good decision to come here. Now, if only he would know what to do with him too...

 

* * *

 

  
_She opened the door to see Mr Ackerman standing at the entrance. He looked somehow concerned and a little more sour than usual with a thoughtful air around him. In spite of that, he greeted her with his “good neighbor” kind of smile. “Earl?! What a surprise? How are you?” The named man took off his hat and bowed in her direction. “Hi, Carla! Long time no see! I’m fine. I’ve been kind of busy these past few months. Kioko is gone with some business at her parents. Her mother isn’t feeling that well…” He looked sorrowfully in the distance. “Let’s hope it's not something too bad.” The cold air was beginning to get under her clothes so she crossed her arms to try to keep warm. He raised his hand and showed the back of their courtyard with his thumb. “Your husband and my daughter are parking the car. They’ll be right here. I…” he looked a little confused in her direction, seeming as he didn’t quite know how to put his ideas into words. “I wanted to ask you something before they come so I left them behind.”_

 

_Carla’s eyes went a little wide upon hearing that. She was curious what it could be. Earl was a very serious man and a very polite neighbor. But they were not particularly close. Most of the time, he would talk with her husband. In fact, Carla thought that Earl was one of the few Grisha ever named as a “friend”._

 

_Earl seemed to look in the direction of the garage to check that there was no one coming. What he said next was in a low and almost cautious voice. “I don’t know if you’ve been aware. But I have had someone staying with us the past two months.” Carla’s eyes seemed to lit with reminiscence. She remembered Grisha mentioning something to her before. “He… he is a child entrusted to me. His mother, my sister, died a few years ago. His other relative, the one that took care of him till now can no longer do so.” Earl’s voice was beginning to strain. There was a weird struggle as he carefully chose his words. “So he would be staying with us for the moment until something else comes up.” Earl smiled and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry! I know it must sound somewhat weird… but he is a very guarded and stubborn kid. For some reason, you can’t seem to get out of him more than a few words. These days, he seemed to somewhat warm up to Kioko. But now that she is out of town,” a frown marred his face “ I don’t really know how to approach him.”_

 

_It seemed somewhat strange to Carla. What did he mean by “how to approach him”. She looked confused while waiting for more details on what he meant. But still, she felt the need to assure him that she was willing to help. “I can see what I can... “_

 

_Seeming relieved, Earl quickly interrupted her. “Yes, please!” Realising that he had been probably impolite, he started scratching his head in an awkward gesture of modesty. “Ok, so what I wanted to ask of you was the next thing: He…” Earl looked in the direction of the garage. Grisha was coming along with his daughter. But there was no one else to be seen along them. “He came with us now. I thought it would do him good, you know, get him a little bit out of his shell. So I more or less forced him to get in the car with us.” Forced was a very strong word to use in this situation. Earl remembered the way he had asked Levi if he had wanted to come with them. After a long moment of silence, Levi answered in what seemed like complete boredom and indifference with a short “no”._

 

_Maybe because he had been annoyed by the fact that the teen hadn’t even looked at him while he said it, Earl replied with a wanted-to-be joke of “You have no saying in it, anyway!” that had sounded anything but humorous. In that moment, he could feel the boy become even more rigid, if that was even possible. He did not say anything else and Earl took it as just another refusal. But when the moment for them to leave came, he saw Levi get in the back of the car out of his own will. He was looking out the window, seemingly passive to anything they talked about._

 

_Looking back at Carla, Earl continued his request. “I told him that he should come and meet you and your family and that he would eat with you. But he replied that he already ate and that he wants to wait for us in the car.” He recalled how Levi had looked at him, from the corner of his eye, a coldness and a hidden disgust crisped in that gray gaze of his. And a very uncomfortable feeling washed over him. Did he really want to have the kid eat along them? Earl pulled his bangs back from his face in a gesture of mild exasperation. No, no. What was he saying?! He did not trust the kid. But for the past weeks, he could see that whenever Levi was around Kioko, he acted differently. He had been more open and almost obedient when it came to her. So maybe, it was because of something he did, something that he had to change in the way he acted towards the boy._

 

_There was a humble plea in his voice now. “Could you please ask him too to come eat with us? Maybe he is at that age, you know, when he wants to oppose any adult, but a more motherly figure could soften him up a bit, make him not feel so on his guard…” He finished with a kind of impersonal, almost business like smile. Mikasa run from underneath Grisha’s umbrella to him and grabbed the back of his coat. She blushed and looked with her beautiful black eyes in the direction of Carla. “Hi, ms Carla!”_

 

_Startled by the cheerfulness of the petite intruder, Carla bent her knees so that she could reach the little mouse’s cheek and pinched it. “Hi, there sweetheart!” God, she was such a beautiful child! Her mother was a very unique kind of beauty too. There was a natural undeniable grace about her, one that could be easily seen in Mikasa too. “I’m so happy to see you, little darling!”_

 

_Reaching the threshold, Grisha was shaking the water from his umbrella. He then kissed his wife and pulled her closer to him with a tender gesture while whispering to her. “Sorry for taking you by surprise.” Carla was amused that her husband did all this. It was not something usual for him to go out of schedule. She knew Grisha as a man who did nothing which was not programmed or talked about before. So she wondered if anything might have happened. Not that it was a bad thing, this unplanned little gathering. And she had enough food for everyone._

 

_She pushed her husband inside while she stole his umbrella.” Now then, go inside and make yourselves comfy. I have a little something to do!” She winked at Earl as she said so and left for the garage._

 

_Grisha looked at her back as she was departing and then with a questioning look back at Earl. “What was that about?” Sheepishly wanting to divert Grisha’s attention, Earl patted him on the back and urged him to get inside. “Let’s go and warm up. It’s freezing out here.”_

 

_“I hope that you’re not going for other people’s wives now that yours is not home.” Grisha felt like picking on him a little. Feeling up for the challenge, Earl could not help himself. “Yeah, yeah. Like I need to. Not when you’re married to the most beautiful woman in town.” They stood right at the entrance to the kitchen. Earl glanced inside and saw Eren sitting on a chair, looking very focused at his camera. The strange picture of a child being so wrapped up in something distracted him and he didn’t even hear Grisha’s retaliation. The boy was so focused that he didn’t even seem to notice them. Earl looked at the boy and he couldn’t help thinking that there was something eerie and mature about him. He knew that Grisha could be a little fixed on academic results and such._

 

_“What are you doing, kid?” He was a good, hard working kid. He liked him…_

 

* * *

  


Carla was carefully walking to the back of the house. She should have changed her slippers before going out. She dirtied that soft fabric. Also, she kind of underestimated the cold outside. A coat would have helped too, even if she should be back in only a few minutes. When she reached the garage she saw that Grisha had left the door opened. Probably for the boy to stay inside the car and still leave him with the possibility to go out and come to the entrance if he had wanted to. She slowly put the umbrella down and closed it. There was the shape of someone on the back seat. The door of the car was opened. She only now realised as she was going closer to the boy that she had forgotten to ask his name. Or age for that matter. As she reached the door with soft and careful steps, she saw him leaning against the seat with his head on the opposite side, his eyes closed. He must have fallen asleep.

 

She couldn’t quite see his whole face. But from what she could make out of him, he looked around 15 years old. She was now in doubt whether she should wake him up or just let him sleep. He looked quite peaceful. Trying to get a better look at him, she leaned closer and got her head inside the vehicle, her hand resting on the edge of the door. Having grasped his features, she was dumbfound how little the boy had in common with Earl. Earl could be called a bright kind of appearance. His bright blonde hair and warm, friendly features made you instantly have some kind of natural, maybe unfounded, trust in him. This boy was the opposite of that. His hair was coal black and it looked pleasantly soft and shiny. It was longer at the front and it nicely framed his face. Carla has never seen anyone sleep with a more blank expression than that. As weird as that seemed, it looked almost like he was dead. Maybe because of the unnatural paleness of his skin. Was he sick?

 

She raised her hand to try to feel his forehead. With a sudden jolt, the boy opened his eyes and caught her hand, pressing a little too hard on it. He looked with a cautious expression at her, his pupils widened as if in a flight-or-fight kind of reaction. Now that he was facing her, she was at a loss of words for a moment. There was a strange kind of beauty this boy possessed. His features were refined,almost tender, but at the same time manly. For some reason, he looked older awake than he looked while he was sleeping. Maybe it was because of the way he looked at her. His eyes were cold and gray and his stare pierced like steel.

 

Letting go of her hand, the boy started questioning her “What were you...?”

 

Coming back to her senses and realizing that she must have really startled him, Carla put on one of her biggest and most sincere grins. “Hi there!” She stepped backward. “I’m Carla! I’m a friend of Earl’s. He sent me to get you.” Levi stared at her as if she was talking in another language from him. She lowered her voice as if to tell the boy a secret. “He told me you are a bit shy and that you are afraid of my famously terrible cooking skills, even so afraid that you would not dare to come and get near my food.” She looked at him with reproach and put her hands on her hips to suggest that she was hurt that he thought that way. “Now, is that so?” her pout was so overly exaggerated that she hopped it was at least funny as she intended it to be.

 

“I…” The boy harbored a look of confusion on his face. In fact, he seemed so puzzled that it was almost funny. “I don’t…” She could see a small beginning of a blush mixed with a frown of tangled annoyance giving form to his otherwise damp features. Carla couldn’t help herself and burst out into laughter at that. In fact, her laughter had been so sincere that there had been tears forming in the corners of her eyes. When she finished, she found the teen looking at her with a peculiar kind of expression. Like she had been some kind of alien fallen from the sky. Fuck, she shouldn’t scare the kid any more than she already had.

 

“What do you say? Do you want to give it a try? My cooking, I mean?” She looked hopefully at him. The boy seemed to really think about it. “I don’t really eat that much. I already ate.” He let his gaze fall in the other direction as he answered her. For the first time since he was awake, his face started to look as blank as it did when he was asleep. Carla felt a sudden sadness as she rested her eyes on him. _Cranky little kid, aren’t we?_  “That is alright! You can come and keep us company. No need to eat if you don’t feel like it.” His attention returned to her. He looked at her as if he had been waiting for her to say anything else. But Carla was just staring back at him, giving him a warm smile to support her words while she was patiently waiting for his answer.

 

He opened his lips to say something and then he closed them back. The second time he did so, sound came out too. “Alright.” It was the most monotone approval she had ever heard, but Carla made a small victory gesture upon hearing it. “Yess! I knew that my power of persuasion was able to tweak anyone.” She could see him raising a brow at that. For some reason, his general lack of emotion made her want to stir him up. His troubled reactions took off some of that impenetrable coldness from his eyes.

 

“What is your name?” she took her umbrella and opened it. He was right beside her as she reached for his hand and pulled him closer so that they could both sit under it. He resisted her a little bit and he seemed almost annoyed at the proximity. But to her eyes, his stubborn way of acting only made her think of someone who requested attention. From her experience with Eren, he was only stubborn when he felt misunderstood and needed someone to approve what he did. But maybe it was silly of her to generalize.

 

Noticeably more relaxed now than at first, the boy finally answered her. “Levi.” Hearing his name, Carla thought that for some reason it was so fitting for him. “Levi.” she repeated it mindlessly. With an approving beam, she turned to him and said excitedly: “Levi. You have a gorgeous name.” _He lost his mother a few years ago._ Carla’s voice softened and her hand gently pressed Levi’s as they walked to the front door of her house. “The one who gave it to you made a wonderful decision.” Levi looked at her with a loss of words. Somehow the softness of her voice left him kind of guard-less. Carla smiled as she remembered something. If she was not wrong, she even recalled the meaning of this name. Maybe from the time she searched for baby names for Eren. Who knew. Glancing at the boy, she thought that she could put that knowledge to use.

 

So she innocently drew Levi closer to her as she shared that meaning with him. “Did you know that Levi could be translated as ‘joined’. The one who bounds people together…” As her hand reached for the catch to open the door and let him in, Carla also reached for the curiosity present in Levi’s gaze and she confronted his otherwise emotionless gray stare. “Don’t you think that it’s quite nice? The fact that two strangers like us are somewhat ‘joined’ by meeting each other?” Lost in her argument, she averted her gaze from the boy and went on to remove her now ruined slippers. She surely must sound like she was crazy. But she genuinely believed that ‘joined’ was a very beautiful word to describe humans in general. “I always tell Eren, my son, when he doesn’t want to leave the house that who knows what fateful meeting he might be missing. That he should be grateful for every meeting, because every person that you encounter in your life has something to teach you.” Having finished changing her footwear, Carla fixed her gaze once again on the boy in front of her. “That’s why, I’m very happy that you decided to come stay with us, Levi!”

 

Levi didn’t say anything to that. But a very distinct frown could be seen on his face. For some reason, the words of the woman in front of him made him feel agitated and almost flustered. Probably, if asked directly why, he wouldn’t have been able to realize the answer. Only later, when he recalled their strange meeting, and carefully weighed what she had said and how it had made him feel did he get what it was. In a way, he understood it even now, even if he couldn’t put it into words. For such a long time, no one had expected anything of him. All the more give him their trust.

 

As he thought of Earl, Levi expression darkened and his gaze pierced the floor in an attempt to scatter away his uncomfortable feelings. He didn’t miss the way Earl had looked at him, like he was something he really didn’t want to deal with. And the small gestures he made when his family was around like he didn’t really want them to interact with him. He wondered how much longer this frail facade of “good uncle” of his was going to last. Not much he guessed. He already began to look like he was searching for reasons to get rid of him.

 

Harboring a sour expression on his face, Levi glanced at the kitchen where everyone was. The two men were talking to each other at the table while Mikasa was noisily playing with some other kid across the room. They seemed to be looking at some pictures on a big assed camera. Carla pushed him forward as she entered the room and announced their entrance with a loud voice. “Hey there, guys! Look who I bought with me!” As Eren was the only person in the room who didn’t yet meet Levi, Carla turned to him first. “Eren, I want you to meet Levi. He is Mikasa’s cousin and he is staying with the Akermans for the time being.” In that moment, several heads turned to look at Levi.

 

In spite of that, the quiet boy only had eyes for one person in that room. When Earl slowly turned to look at Levi, fairly surprised that Carla succeeded in bringing him over, he found that cold sharp stare fixed on him. It was impenetrable but it did not look like it held anything good regarding him. If looks could kill, that kid would have killed him for some time now. Earl signed and turned away from him, too tired to guess what it was this time. If only he would know what was passing thru that boy’s mind.

 

Still somewhat agitated, Levi tried to keep in check his emerging feelings. He would have wanted to say something to Earl but he didn’t know what. Having been denied attention as Earl turned away from him, Levi was left looking at his back. Hissing and pushing his hand thru his bangs as he tried to let go of this unsettling feeling that came over him, Levi smiled at the stupidity of his behaviour. What was he so upset about. He tried to recall all the people he ever met in his life. Out of each one of them, he probably couldn’t find anyone who did more for him than this man did. He was most probably a decent man…

 

Breaking his train of thought, Mikasa remarked in a very curious tone of voice. “Cousin?” She stared at Levi like she couldn’t believe it. Searching for a definitive answer, she glanced at her father. “Daddy, is Levi my cousin?” Now it was Earl’s turn to be stared at.

 

Grisha, being the one closer to him was the one to voice that curiosity. “You didn’t tell her?”

Trying to ease the atmosphere up, Earl tried to pull a joke. “Yeah, I must have forgotten to tell Mikasa.” _Fuck! Why now, when they were visiting the Jeagers?_ He glanced at his daughter and at the way she was genuinely interested in Levi. He knew she was hurt that he didn’t tell her sooner. Her lower lip was beginning to tremble. “ ‘kasa.” Damn! He was really starting to regret it now. But he really didn’t do it to hurt her.

 

But in spite of all that, he still believed that it had been the right decision at that time. He glanced from the corner of his eye at the still figure of his cold and taciturn nephew.

 

Somehow, all this got Levi feeling very tired and he started regretting ever fallowing Carla. He looked at his palm as he flexed his fingers. It was not like he didn’t know… or at least he had guessed. But now more than ever he was sure that Earl had never intended for him to stay for too long. Why else would he not say to his daughter who he was? From the start he wanted her to not get very used to him. At their home, Earl almost never left her from his gaze when he was in the same room as them. Levi put his hand down beside his back and clenched his fist. But what was he to do if Earl kicked him out? Suddenly a cold kind of indifference and resignation washed over him. And just as expressive as he had been just a few seconds ago, the first time in a rather long time, his whole demeanor turned back to being impenetrable and distant. His face turned back to that stony expression and that flicker of rage from his gaze dimmed out to leave only a hollow gray shadow.

 

Carla didn’t quite get why there seemed to be such a shift in Levi’s attitude. He had been fine just a moment ago when they came together. She could see Levi building up a tall indifference wall high up to guard himself. Not wanting to let all her efforts go to waste, she grabbed him and hugged him in a playful way, putting her head above the top of his own. “Now, now, don’t give me that sour look, young man!” She crossed her hands along his frame to keep him from eventually evading her. “I slyly got you here just so that I could make you eat all my food. It was all a part of my master plan! Now, I will instruct my evil elves to torture you while I make you wait.” She tried to ignore the way his every muscle was clenched or how bony his figure seemed to be in reality.

 

“Oi, my number one elf!” Her beautiful warm honey gaze hovered in the direction of her son. “What do you say? Are you up to the challenge of taking care of this Levi here?” As she said Levi, she softly reached for his hair. But her fingertips didn’t even land on that black pile, as his hand suddenly snapped and caught her wrist. A bleak gray stare greeted her. “Don’t.”

 

_Damn! This was the second time today!_ What was Eren doing not answering her? She could really use a bit of help now with this situation. She searched with her gaze for her son. When her eyes met his, she was startled to find that expression on his face. He was heavily frowning and there was a fire in his eyes as he fixed her with that strange look.

 

What was wrong with him? Why did he look so… vexed?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is going to be a pretty slow paced story as I would like to get in the heads of the characters. So the first chapters will be focused on how Eren became infatuated with Levi. Be warned that this is going to be a pretty dark and kinky story! 
> 
> :) Comments are always welcome!


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